Closed Entrance — but Getting Spruced Up!

Lines to get into House and Senate office buildings have been frustratingly long due to the recent closure of a number of doorways thanks to the sequester’s effect on the Capitol Police budget. And staffers have been told that those closures are likely here to stay.

But have no fear! Those closed entrances to the side office buildings will be spick-and-span and freshly painted for the grand total of zero Hill staffers and visitors who will get to use them!

A congressional whistle-blower reached out to HOH with a picture of a painter putting a fresh coat of white paint on a now-closed entry/exit point in the Russell Senate Office Building.

A whistle-blower spotted a painter giving a closed entryway in the Russell Senate Office Building a fresh coat of paint.

“Can someone explain why visitors have to wait in long lines while we have the funds to paint an entrance that’s closed?” the tipster asked.

HOH knows that the Architect of the Capitol, tasked with the upkeep of the Capitol complex, operates on a separate budget than the Capitol Police, the agency that decided to close a number of entry/exit points to save overtime pay.

We did find it curious, however, that the painting of the entryway was taking place after it had been closed.

HOH reached out to the AOC to see whether the decision to paint the doorway was being done out of convenience now that the entrance was closed, or if the painting project had been planned before the decision to close the doorway.

“This work is just part of our planned, reoccurring maintenance,” AOC spokeswoman Eva Malecki told HOH.